1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates generally to surgical clips and more specifically to surgical clips having rigid parallel jaws that are biased to a closed position by a spring.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Surgical clips are used to inhibit fluid flow in a body conduit such as a blood vessel. More commonly the clips are applied to totally occlude a blood vessel and thereby inhibit the flow of blood beyond the clip.
In the past, surgical clips have been formed with generally rigid parallel jaws, each attached to a respective barrel portion. These barrel portions have been telescopically movable relative to each other to house a compression spring. Pinching the barrel portions together has opposed the bias on the compression spring and resulted in opening the jaws of the clip. When the barrel portions are released, the compression spring automatically biases the barrel to an expanded configuration and biases the jaws into a closed state.
These clips of the past have had a very high profile which has been dictated by the length of the barrel. When the barrel has been pinched to a low-profile to compress the spring and open the jaws, the height of the barrel has been generally equivalent to the height of the jaws. However, when the barrel is released and the spring expands, the barrel moves to a relatively high configuration as the jaws move to the closed state.
Finger tabs have been attached to the barrel portion generally at their outer-most extremities. Consequently, separation of the finger tabs has been generally equivalent to the height of the barrel. With the distance separating the tabs generally equivalent to the distance separating the jaws, the open state has presented the lowest profile for the clip. As the jaws approach a closed state, the tabs separate even further so that the overall profile of the clip is generally dictated by the height of the tabs.
This configuration of the surgical clips of the prior art has made them particularly unsuited for use in the working channels of access devices such as trocars and endoscopes. Even when elongate surgical clip appliers have been used, the relatively high profile of the barrel portions and tabs has been even further increased. Since the arms of the appliers must necessarily engage the barrel portions and tabs on outer surfaces, the use of appliers only increases the height of the applier/clip combination.